Data center migrations are complicated projects. With so many moving parts and people involved across tight timelines, the biggest challenge is mitigating the risks—like extended downtime, unexpected delays, and nonfunctioning hardware—inherent in migrating your data center.

Even with the most experienced data center move teams, migration-breaking issues can come up. So, when you’re moving your data center, what can you do to mitigate risks and give yourself the best chance of success?

Scott Sandal, our Director of DCIM Support and Services, shared his thoughts on this topic in a recent article in Data Center Frontier, an online data center industry publication focused on cutting-edge innovation in design, efficiency, and scalability. Titled “7 Often-Overlooked Considerations for a Successful Data Center Move,” the article provides tips and best practices to address areas that, in Sandal's experience, are frequently overlooked in data center migrations (despite being critical to their success).

With over 15 years of experience helping customers with facility capacity planning, IT lifecycle management, and infrastructure design in the data center space, Sandal has seen his share of late-night data center moves. One of the biggest mistakes he’s seen most often? Overplanning. (Yes, it’s possible to overplan a data center move.)

“Whether you’re building a new data center, moving to a colocation facility, or transitioning to a cloud/hybrid environment, a data center migration is a complicated, risky endeavor,” says Sandal in the article. “Considerations like these may seem obvious after they are articulated, but even the most experienced data center migration teams can (and have) overlooked them.”

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About DCIM and Data Center Infrastructure Management Software

Today's data centers have increased in size, density and complexity. Managers need an easy to use Data Center Management System to improve efficiency through data center optimization, extending the useful life of their existing physical infrastructure, while ensuring uptime. A new category of tools with integrated processes, DCIM Software, combines the capability of tracking assets with the coordination and validation of managing space, power, data center cable management and cooling.